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Good book. nossy Send a noteboard - 17/10/2010 06:37:16 PM
Bazarov annoyed me in the beginning/middle. I liked the way Turgenev wrote him, into the position of seeming not to notice the hypocrisy of his beliefs until the Odintsova sequence played itself out.

Some of it made me curious. Ie: when Bazarov comments that a botanist wouldn't study every birch tree, so why should one study every human to find the inevitably absent differences -- is Turgenev truly behind the idea that a scientist can learn all he knows about birch from one tree? Because that's not at all accurate, and I found myself trusting that the author knew that a scientist would indeed study multiple examples of the same tree to learn. It gave me an interesting perspective on Bazarov, at any rate. That type of thing happened to me several times, and another example is the "enigmatic eye" story, and Bazarov's assertion that that was simply romanticism and rot (referencing the anatomy of the eyeball). I have to admit that I enjoyed his uncomfortable evolution during the times with Odintsova. Particularly the section where he thinks about her "proud lips," "intelligent eyes," and wanting her to "look upon him with tenderness." Nice.

Odintsova also bothered me. I tend to want to give her the benefit of the doubt (seems she was preconditioned in her opinion of men, which makes sense, given her age/experience), but I dislike women who trap men. I think my benefit of the doubt is due to not being able to decide whether she knew what she actually felt. Maybe her own revelation was something like Bazarov's - she didn't see it coming, because she'd previously cared about nothing and "was going nowhere." She does later mention that talking/being with him is like walking the edge of a precipice, so maybe that comment is meant to be more about her having no idea how to deal with her own feelings than about Bazarov's personality.

I liked the resolution, though I'm not glad B killed himself. I was not surprised, but it seemed a little too... easy. I was annoyed that because his stance came up against a wall, he decided to leave. Or, well, if it is correct that his end was his choice. Seemed so, to me. At any rate, jumping into the autopsy was a rash decision.

Edit: eh, that sounds too much like I never gained any respect for Bazarov, which is not the case. I felt physical anger when O denied him. I enjoyed reading his change/growing towards the end, post duel and all. We get to see him experience and struggle with emotion, and it all means more after we've seen the scene with O.
This message last edited by nossy on 17/10/2010 at 07:09:05 PM
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Russian Book Club: Fathers and Sons by Turgenev. - 17/10/2010 01:39:16 AM 868 Views
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never mind *NM* - 17/10/2010 02:15:16 PM 291 Views
The novel is very interested in inter-generational issues. - 17/10/2010 05:28:29 PM 582 Views
Re: The novel is very interested in inter-generational issues. - 17/10/2010 11:59:37 PM 679 Views
oh, and - 17/10/2010 06:42:38 PM 576 Views
Re: oh, and - 18/10/2010 12:09:10 AM 556 Views
I like the way you said that - 19/10/2010 05:31:05 AM 608 Views
Re: I like the way you said that - 19/10/2010 09:24:00 AM 560 Views
I had pretty much the same reaction as you. - 22/10/2010 07:05:37 PM 646 Views
Arkady - 17/10/2010 02:15:54 PM 543 Views
Well, that makes sense - 17/10/2010 05:12:09 PM 550 Views
Re: Well, that makes sense - 18/10/2010 12:04:05 AM 572 Views
According to a footnote in my (Dutch) copy... - 18/10/2010 10:55:22 PM 575 Views
Ясень and ясный - 18/10/2010 11:41:24 PM 575 Views
See, I liked Arkady - 17/10/2010 06:08:57 PM 507 Views
Re: See, I liked Arkady - 18/10/2010 12:13:49 AM 534 Views
hm. - 18/10/2010 01:06:44 AM 663 Views
Re: hm. - 18/10/2010 11:46:23 AM 753 Views
Re: hm. - 19/10/2010 05:38:02 AM 600 Views
Re: See, I liked Arkady - 18/10/2010 10:51:59 PM 531 Views
Re: Arkady - 22/10/2010 07:09:14 PM 583 Views
Oh...Rebekah, I was going to mention that I saw your post only much later because I was very drunk. - 17/10/2010 05:13:41 PM 576 Views
Heh, no worries. - 18/10/2010 11:07:00 AM 507 Views
Good book. - 17/10/2010 06:37:16 PM 590 Views
Agreed. - 18/10/2010 11:55:11 AM 661 Views
Re: Agreed. - 19/10/2010 06:02:18 AM 593 Views
Re: Agreed. - 19/10/2010 09:26:25 AM 506 Views
I didn't think Odintsova trapped him. - 18/10/2010 11:03:37 PM 558 Views
Re: I didn't think Odintsova trapped him. - 18/10/2010 11:31:40 PM 628 Views
Re: I didn't think Odintsova trapped him. - 19/10/2010 05:13:26 AM 566 Views
I think you might be overanalyzing the birch tree statement. - 18/10/2010 11:45:12 PM 538 Views
I disagree - 19/10/2010 05:27:07 AM 573 Views
I loved it. Great book. - 18/10/2010 10:49:27 PM 527 Views
Re: I loved it. Great book. - 18/10/2010 11:33:42 PM 518 Views
I think it's very relevant. It's also unusually un-Russian. - 18/10/2010 11:54:03 PM 500 Views
Yeah... the Russian nobility at the time seems to have been kind of un-Russian, really. - 20/10/2010 04:03:34 PM 554 Views
It felt very Russian to me as well - 20/10/2010 04:12:50 PM 516 Views
I really wish I'd bought a properly annotated version. - 22/10/2010 07:07:16 PM 580 Views
The answer to that is to just read a great book on Nineteenth Century Russian history. - 22/10/2010 10:55:06 PM 580 Views
Can you recommend one? - 22/10/2010 10:55:56 PM 861 Views
"One" is where it starts to get harder. - 23/10/2010 01:45:03 AM 594 Views
Nikolai and Pavel - I love them. - 22/10/2010 07:14:11 PM 662 Views
Perhaps it's Pavel's "The Chap"-ish nature that makes the novel seem less Russian to me. - 22/10/2010 10:53:56 PM 651 Views
Ah, that's a good point. - 22/10/2010 10:54:56 PM 521 Views
The women - 22/10/2010 07:18:45 PM 613 Views

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